Friday, November 2, 2012

Thus the unemployment level will be higher when Obama seeks reelection Tuesday than it was when he first took office. The news was not all bad; there were more jobs created then expected, the U-6 number went down a tick, but not bad is not the same as good. We should be in a much stronger position economically. The fact that alone that these numbers are considered 'not bad' is an indication in and of itself of just how dismal our economic situation is.

"American job creation improved in October with 171,000 new jobs but the unemployment rate moved higher to 7.9 percent, setting the stage for a final push to the finish line in the heated presidential campaign.
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A broader measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those employed part-time who would rather work full-time ticked lower to 14.6 percent. (Read More: US Planned Layoffs Jump to a 5-Month High)

The labor force participation rate, a key metric that measures those working or looking for jobs, edged higher to 63.8 percent after wallowing around 31-year lows for the past several months. The total level of employment jumped by 410,000.

But unemployment for blacks showed the highest increase in the survey, surging to 14.3 percent from 13.4 percent.

Also, the average duration of unemployment climbed to a 2012 high of 40.2 weeks. The average work week and earnings both showed little change."